There is already a recipe for smoked salmon ravioli on this blog, but that one is for hot smoked salmon. Today’s post is about cold smoked salmon. The filling is as easy as it comes: simply blend smoked salmon with ricotta. As often with Italian food, easy is also delicious. In this case the deliciousness is enhanced by serving the ravioli with a whiskey cream sauce. The smokiness of the salmon works very well with the smokiness of the whiskey.

Instructions

Blend until smooth and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. (Salt will most likely not be needed as smoked salmon already is quite salty.)

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and refrigerate until needed.

Roll out the pasta dough to the thinnest setting and make ravioli according to my instructions.

Make sure to turn the ravioli to allow the underside to dry as well, if you are not cooking them immediately.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan and add a minced onion. Cook over low heat until the onion is soft and starting to turn golden, about 15 minutes.

Add 60 ml of whiskey…

…and 120 ml of cream.

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper…

…and a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice, only enough to brighten up the flavor. Keep the sauce warm over very low heat; the alcohol from the whiskey should evaporate but it shouldn’t thicken too much.

When the water boils, add salt and the ravioli, and cook for about 2 minutes. Transfer the ravioli to the sauce with a strainer.

Once you have transferred all of the ravioli, toss them gently to coat them with the sauce.

Serve on preheated plates, garnished with chives.

Wine pairing

We enjoyed this with an oaked semillon from Bordeaux. White bordeaux is mostly made from sauvignon blanc and semillon, but that is usually not written on the label. 100% semillon is rare, but this would also work with a sauvignon blend as long as the semillon is the main grape and the wine has had lots of new oak. The oaked semillon makes the wine creamy and smoky, perfect for this dish.

Two of my very favourites in an easy dish! Another filling to put on the menu. See you use Irish whisky: quite different from the Scotch I normally have in hand – must get another bottle as have not made Irish coffee for ages and some friends prefer anyways . . . . . . Am learning Dutch as I go along: ‘roomboter’ – is that the ‘soft’ kind?

Another stellar dish, Stefan. I’ve toyed with the idea of a smoked salmon ravioli but stopped short when I started thinking of how to dress them once cooked. A whiskey-based sauce is new to me and I’d love to give it a whirl. Good tip, by the way, about turning the ravioli. Early on in my ravioli-making career, I failed to do that and placed the baking sheet directly into the freezer. When I returned to properly store them, most were stuck to the baking sheet. After that, I’ve turned them and always use paper-lined baking sheets. Once bitten, twice shy …

beautiful. Now I have a work surface to make pasta and this is just something I would love to try. Never made ravioli before. I’ve only made long noodles. The whiskey sauce also sounds exciting. Never tried that before. I’m not a whiskey fan but it does smell amazing and I could see it working really well in a recipe like yoursThis is great Stefan!

Thanks, Paul. I am not a whiskey fan either, but that is because it’s too strong for me. In this recipe, you only get the flavor and scent, and although it certainly was a new flavor for me, I did like it. This actually isn’t a bad recipe to start with when making ravioli, as the filling is quick and easy to make (so you can save your energy for folding those parcels of goodness) as well as easy to handle. Make sure to read my “10 secrets” post before, so you can perhaps skip at least some of the beginners problems with ravioli making that I had to go through a long time ago.